Steve Lein

I'm actually glad someone else recognized that name! I actually had a note in there saying something along the lines of "(Look up Loewen's story and his career history, it's an interesting timeline)" but decided to take it out. Had surgery and switched to be a position player. Is now back again as a pitcher!

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The Tampa Bay Rays finished off a three game sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon with a 5-3 victory in the heat at Target Field. Kevin Correia wasn’t able to continue his recent run of solid pitching, as he lasted just four innings and gave up runs in each of the first three. In the minors, the starting pitching was the story of the day, but in a good way as all four full-season affiliate starters pitched into the sixth inning. Read on to find out what happened in the minor leagues on Sunday. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 14, Norfolk 2 Box score Pedro Florimon (3), Nate Hanson (2), and Danny Ortiz (5) all homered in this game, while accounting for eight of the Red Wings fourteen runs. Florimon’s was a solo-blast, Hanson’s a three-run shot, and Ortiz’s a Grand Slam in the eighth inning. In addition to Hanson (3-4, R, 2B, HR, BB, 4 RBI) and Ortiz (2-5, R, HR, 5 RBI), rightfielder Chris Rahl (4-5, 3 R’s, 3 2B’s, 3 RBI) and centerfielder Eric Farris (2-5, 2 R’s, 2B, RBI) each collected multiple hits. All batters in the lineup reached base and scored at least one run. Logan Darnell made the quality start for Rochester, pitching 6.1 innings in which he allowed just two earned runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out two. The two runs came in the third inning when Steve Lombardozzi and Christian Walker bookended a 3-hit inning with doubles. Lester Oliveros finished the seventh inning and eighth with 1.2 perfect innings of relief, striking out two in the process, and Michael Tonkin pitched a scoreless ninth. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 6, Reading 5 Box Score New Britain was largely dominated by Reading’s starter, Adam Loewen, for six innings before breaking through in a big way in the seventh. Down 3-0 going into the inning, The Rock Cats strung together a Hit-by-pitch (Reynaldo Rodriguez), double (Brandown Waring), and walk to load the bases (Stephen Wickens), before an ejection (Coach Chad Allen) on a Catcher Interference call (Tony Thomas), and a Grand Slam (Aaron Hicks) put five runs on the board. Starter Jason Wheeler gave up a two-run home run in the first inning, but settled down nicely and allowed just one more run in the fourth to also log a quality start. On the day, Wheeler went seven innings and allowed just five hits and a walk, with three strikeouts. Matthew Summers took over in the eighth, and recorded two outs before loading the bases. He was then replaced by Mason Melotakis, who gave up a two-run single to tie the game before picking up a strikeout to end the threat. In the top of the ninth, Tony Thomas would put New Briatain back in the lead with his seventh home run of the year to left field. Melotakis would work a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to pick up the Win. For the game, Rodriguez and Waring (2B) each had two hits while Thomas (2) and Hicks (4) collected all of the RBI’s to lead the Red Wings. MIRACLE MATTERS Brevard County 4, Fort Myers 7 Box Score Tim Shibuya was the third of the Twins affiliate’s starting pitchers on the day to give a quality start, and he also did so with a seven inning effort. He scattered seven hits and a walk to allow only one earned run, while striking out five. The early lead for the Kernels was provided by the bat of Adam Walker, who doubled in the third inning to score Jorge Polanco and Dalton Hicks. Walker went to third on the throw, and then scored on a Mike Gonzalez single. The needed insurance runs came in the sixth inning courtesy of the bat of Niko Goodrum, who crushed a three-run home run to put the Miracle in front 6-1. B.J. Hermsen came on to pitch the eighth, and allowed consecutive singles and a three run home run to the first three batters he faced, before recording all three outs to finish the inning with a 6-4 lead. Fort Myers would add another run in the bottom of eighth on a Goodrum double, before Todd Van Steensel finished the game with with a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his first Florida State League Save. Goodrum (2-3, R, GS, BB, 4 RBI), Stuart Turner (2-3, 2 R’s, BB), and Travis Harrison (3-4, 2B) led the Miracle offense. The three hits continue a torrid hitting pace in July for Harrison. On the month he is batting .361/.418/.475, with four doubles and a home run in 16 games. His average on the season is now up to .292, and though the home runs aren’t there yet, he does rank third in the FSL in doubles, with 24. Byron Buxton did not play for the second day in a row after being hit by a pitch on Friday. KERNELS NUGGETS Fort Wayne 2, Cedar Rapids 0 Box score This game at Perfect Game Field lasted just over two hours, as both teams combined for just nine hits and two runs on the day. Not to be outdone by his fellow Sunday starters, Ryan Eades also threw six innings of quality baseball for Cedar Rapids. It was a big bounce-back game for him, as in each of his previous four starts he had allowed at least five runs, and never made it into the sixth inning. In this one he allowed just five hits, one walk and one earned run while striking out two. Alex Muren and Jared Wilson combined for three innings of perfect baseball in relief, picking up three K’s along the way. Unfortunately for Eades, the games two runs were scored by the TinCaps, and the Kernels offense was held silent the entire game. J.D. Williams (2-3), Alex Swim and Michael Quesada were the only batters with a hit, and they were all singles. E-TWINS E-NOTES The Elizabethton Twins played a double-header on Sunday, with the second game a make-up of their rain out from last night. Game 1: Burlington 0, Elizabethton 8 Box Score In the first regularly scheduled game, Elizabethton scored early and often on their way to the seven-inning shutout. First-baseman Tyler Kuresa was the star in this one, going 3-4 with a double, his third and fourth home runs of the year, and three RBI. Max Murphy slugged his eighth home run, and Brett Doe added his first. Derrick Penilla made the start for Elizabethton, and pitched five scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out four. Samuel Clay struck out three in his one inning, and Koa Hua Lo pitched a perfect seventh inning. Game 2: Burlington 3, Elizabethton 1 Box Score Michael Cederoth made the start for Elizabethton in the makeup game and pitched 4.2 innings, surrendering seven hits, three walks, and three earned runs before he was chased in the fifth. John Curtiss was the first reliever summoned, and recorded all four of his outs with strikeouts, before Randy LeBlanc pitched a perfect final inning with one K. On offense, Blake Schmit picked up the only Twins RBI with a Sac Fly in the fifth, while as a team they collected just five hits. Centerfielder Austin Diemer hit his fourth double. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Tim Shibuya, Fort Myers Miracle (7.0 IP, 7 H’s, 1 BB, 1 ER, 5 K’s) Hitter – Nate Hanson, Rochester Red Wings (3-4, R, 2B, HR, BB, 4 RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Durham – Sean Gilmartin (1-1, 4.13 ERA), 6:05PM CST Altoona @ New Britain – TBD, 6:05 CST Brevard County @ Fort Myers – Matthew Tomshaw (8-2, 2.88 ERA), 6:05PM CST Fort Wayne @ Cedar Rapids – Chih-Wei Hu (1-0, 3.00 ERA), 12:05PM CST Burlington @ Elizabethton – Stephen Gonsalves (2-0, 2.25 ERA), 6:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Orioles – TBD, 11:00AM CST DSL Twins @ DSL White Sox – TBD, 9:30AM CST

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Spot starter Kris Johnson made took the mound for Minnesota on Friday, but wasn’t able to give the Twins much of a chance in Colorado as he surrendered two, one, and two runs in the first three innings of the game, setting them back 5-1 before he was removed after just 57 pitches to start the fifth. Drew Stubbs and Troy Tulowitzki blasted home runs as part of the early barrage, and the Twins offense wasn’t able to recover against Rockies’ starter Jorge De La Rosa or their bullpen. In the minors, there were two dramatic finishes and two dramatic “finish him!” mercy rule scores reflected on scoreboards. Read on to find out which were good and which were bad. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5 Box score Starting pitcher Mark Hamburger had a good effort in his first start in AA last week, but wasn’t able to mirror that effectiveness in this one. The St. Paul native went four innings, and they included seven hits, three walks, and five earned runs to tag him with the loss. On a positive note, he did strike out five. Edgar Ibarra (2 IP, 2 H’s, 1 BB, 2 K’s) and Michael Tonkin (2 IP, 1 H, 2 K’s) combined for four innings of scoreless relief, but the offense wasn’t able to mount any semblance of a comeback. On the night the lineup did collect ten hits, but only one went for extra bases and despite going 3-11 with RISP, they only drove in one run and left 11 men on base. Wilkin Ramirez (2-5) and Doug Bernier (2-4, 3B) collected multiple hits, and every other batter except Pedro Florimon reached base. Unfortunately, Josmil Pinto (1-3, BB) collected the only RBI, driving in James Beresford with a third inning single to center field. ROCK CATS REVIEW Reading 5, New Britain 3 Box Score New Britain scored early but not often enough in this one. They took a 1-0 lead after doubles from Aaron Hicks and Reynaldo Rodriguez in the first inning, and extended it to 2-0 after an Eddie Rosario double and Lance Ray single in the third. In the top of the fourth however, an error by SS Brad Boyer led to two runs and a tie score before Reading took the lead for good in the fifth after a sac fly. Starter Pat Dean pitched 5.2 innings, giving up 10 hits and four runs (2 earned) while striking out two. Adrian Salcedo replaced him and pitched 2.1 innings of perfect baseball, picking up three K’s in the process. Jim Fuller came in for the top of the ninth and gave up three hits, one walk, and one insurance run to finish the game for the Rock Cats. The Rock Cats threatened in the ninth with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out, but pinch hitter Tony Thomas and Mike Kvasnicka would K to close out the loss. The standout in the lineup was Eddie Rosario, who went 2-4 with a double, game tying home run in the bottom of the fifth, and two runs scored. MIRACLE MATTERS Dunedin 1, Fort Myers 2 Box Score Blue Jays’ starter Kendall Graveman was locked in a pitchers duel with whe Miracle’s Brett Lee for over two-thirds of the game, as collectively they pitched 13.2 innings, allowing only eight hits, two walks, two runs (one earned), while racking up thirteen K’s. The game was tied at 1-1 when Lee was relieved by Alex Wimmers with two outs in the top of the seventh. Wimmers struck out the next batter to finish the inning, then loaded the bases in the eighth before striking out the final two hitters to keep the game tied. In the top of the ninth, Tyler Jones retired all three men he faced to leave Fort Myers with sudden death conditions for their at-bat. Niko Goodrum would start the inning with a walk, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Travis Harrison would move him to third with a sac fly, and in stepped Dalton Hicks. It wasn’t flashy, but he got the job done with another sac fly for a walk-off win at home. The victory came despite just three hits on the night for the Miracle. Aderlin Mejia had two of them, including an RBI single in the fifth for the first run of the game. KERNELS NUGGETS The Kernels were scheduled to finish a suspended game with the Clinton Lumberkings from June 30th before their regularly scheduled contest. Clinton 4, Cedar Rapids 5 (11 innings) Box score After resuming play for the 10th inning, Clinton built a major threat in the 11th after a walk, single, and stolen base put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. One out and one hit later, the game was 4-3 Lumberkings before a play at home distinguished the fire. In the bottom half, a Jon Murphy single and throwing error from the pitcher on a sac-bunt attempt from Bo Altobelli put the Kernels in great position for a comeback. Chad Christensen wouldn’t disappoint, delivering another walk-off victory with a 2-RBI single. Cedar Rapids 6, Clinton 1 Box Score After being the original starter in the suspended game that was finished earlier, Kohl Stewart again took the mound in this one. This time he went six innings, scattering six hits, one walk, and just one earned run while amassing five strikeouts. It was just his second win of the season in sixteen starts despite a now 2.58 ERA. Jared Wilson would then pitch two scoreless innings before Nick Burdi came in for the ninth and struck out the side. Since his forgettable debut, Burdi has appeared in three games, allowing just two hits and one walk over three innings, while picking up all nine outs via strikeout. The Kernels took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning, before a triple from Chad Christensen, a Mitch Garver single, Bryan Haar walk, and Jason Kanzler triple led to four insurance runs and the final 6-1 lead. Logan Wade (2-5, R, 2B), Alex Swim (2-5, R), Kanzler (2-4, R, 3B, 2 RBI), and Jon Murphy (2-3, 2 RBI) collected multiple hits in the game. E-TWINS E-NOTES Kingsport 12, Elizabethton 0 Box Score Elizabethton committed nearly as many errors (3) as they collected hits on the night (4), leading to a shutout and thumping at the hands of the Kingsport Mets, who knocked around the Twins pitchers with nineteen hits. Felix Jorge made the start and lasted 5.2 innings, giving up eight hits, one walk and three earned runs. Randy LeBlanc would then give up five hits and three more runs in 1.1 innings, before Samuel Clay finished the first beyond mercy-rule game of the night for Twins affiliates with two innings worth of six hit, six earned run baseball. Trey Vavra and Jhonatan Hinojosa were the only batters to get a hit for Elizabethton, each going 2-4. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Red Sox 17, GCL Twins 0 Box Score It was even worse on the scoreboard for the lower level of the Twins Rookie League teams, but the reasons similar as the GCL Twins squad committed four errors to combine with fifteen hits and eight walks for the Red Sox lineup, compared to just six singles and three walks for the home team. Reliever Eduardo Del Rosario was arguably the only standout performer, pitching 1.2 scoreless and hitless innings with two K’s. DSL TWINS NOTES DSL Reds 3, DSL Twins 10 Box Score Of note in this game is the Twins committed six errors, while the Reds managed to commit just two. Fortunately for the Twins, the numbers were the same when it came to capitalizing on those mistakes, as they scored six unearned runs compared to just two for the Reds. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Brett Lee, Fort Myers Miracle (6.2 IP, 5 H’s, 1 BB, 1 R, 8 K’s) Hitter – Eddie Rosario, New Britain Rock Cats (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, RBI) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes-Barre @ Rochester – Sean Gilmartin (1-4, 4.44 ERA), 6:05PM CST Reading @ New Britain – Taylor Rogers (7-6, 3.91 ERA), 6:05 CST Dunedin @ Fort Myers – D.J. Baxendale (2-1, 6.67 ERA), 5:05PM CST Cedar Rapids @ Clinton – Aaron Slegers (5-6, 5.18 ERA), 6:30PM CST Elizabethton @ Danville – Derrick Penilla (0-1, 6.75 ERA), 6:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD, 9:00AM CST DSL Twins @ DSL Padres – TBD, 9:30AM CST

Yeah, he's hitting .414/.553/.552 in his last 10 games... Mostly singles, but also 9 BB's to 7 K's.

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The Minnesota Twins were able to end their 10-game road losing streak against the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon, behind a solid bounce-back effort from starter Kyle Gibson and clutch hitting from Kendrys Morales and unexpected spark plug Jorge Polanco. Gibson went eight efficient innings, allowing just two runs on ninety-five pitches (69 for strikes). Morales provided the winning RBI with a ninth inning double down the line in left to score Sam Fuld, and Glen Perkins closed out the ninth by striking out the side to pick up his 20th save of the year. Down in the minors, the Twins affiliates received strong starting performances from all of their pitchers (including that Berrios guy), but were only 1-3 on the day. Second-round draft pick Nick Burdi also made his professional debut for the Cedar Rapids Kernels with Seth Stohs in attendance. RED WINGS REPORT Norfolk 1, Rochester 8 Box score The story of the game for the Red Wings was starter Logan Darnell. He pitched his first AAA complete game, scattering nine hits and one walk, with three strikeouts. He was helped in large part by inducing four double plays, which is a season high for the Red Wings defense. Darnell is now 3-1 with 2.29 ERA in 39.1 IP in front of the home crowd at Frontier Field. The lone run was the result of a home run off the bat of Michael Almanzar in the fifth inning. The offense put five runs on the board in the third inning to provide all the offensive support Darnell would need. James Beresford led off the inning with a single, and scored when Danny Ortiz hit his fourth home run of the season. Four consecutive hitters would reach base after this, with Doug Bernier (single), Deibinson Romero (walk), Chris Colabello (double, RBI), and Chris Herrmann (Double, 2 RBI) providing the three other runs. Rochester would add a run in the seventh, and two in the eighth to reach their final tally. James Beresford (3-4, 2 R’s) and Eric Farris (2-5, RBI) we’re the only batters to collect multiple hits, but every player in the lineup except Nate Hanson reached base. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 2, New Hampshire 3 Box Score Starter Pat Dean was able to give the Rock Cats a quality start, but there was not enough offense to secure him a victory, as the lineup collected only five hits and three walks on the night and batting 1-7 with runners in scoring position. Tony Thomas and Mike Kvasnicka each hit a double, while Aaron Hicks was 1-2 with two walks and a run scored. Kennys Vargas and Stephen Wickens had the other two hits. Dean pitched 6.1 innings, but was chased in the seventh inning after giving up five consecutive singles to start it. If not for an outfield assist to home on the last of those, Dean would have surrendered at least one more run. He was relieved by Cole Johnson who retired the final two batters of the inning and would finish the game with 1.2 innings, one hit allowed, and two K’s. MIRACLE MATTERS Palm Beach 5, Fort Myers 2 Box Score The story was much the same for the Miracle offense in Fort Myers, as they were only able to push two runs across the plate on the day in support of staff ace Jose Berrios, who took only his third loss of the season. As a team, they were 2-11 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Berrios continued his dominance in this one, again pitching at least six innings, allowing two or fewer earned runs, and striking out seven or more for his ninth straight start. In this one, he went seven innings, allowing just five hits and one walk, while striking out seven. He did surrender just his fourth home run of the year in the first inning, but also retired the final eight batters of his outing, finishing his game with a K. For the offense, Lance Ray was 2-5 with an RBI (in thirteen games this season so far, he is sporting a .979 OPS with 8 doubles and 1 HR), Dalton hicks clubbed a double, and Tyler Grimes was 1-1 with a double and three walks. Niko Goodrum was 1-5 with a run scored and stole his 16th base of the year. Nate Roberts was 0-3, but walked twice, continuing to display his keen on-base abilities after a long period of exile. KERNELS NUGGETS Clinton 7, Cedar Rapids 4 Box score Twins Daily’s Seth Stohs was again in attendance at the Kernels game this afternoon, and saw a great game right until the end. He was able to chat with many of the players and coaches after the game, providing the insight here. On the mound for the Kernels was Ethan Mildren, and he put together arguably his best start of the season. He blanked the LumberKings for seven innings, allowing just four hits, one walk, and racked up six K’s. Asked to describe his outing, Mildren said “I was getting ahead with my fastball well and establishing in and out, and getting good movement on my two-seamer in on righties.” Coach Jake Mauer added “He was outstanding. He was Phenomenal.” Indeed! [ATTACH=CONFIG]8038[/ATTACH] SP Ethan Mildren Cedar Rapids struck for two runs in the first inning after Zack Granite led off the inning with a walk, and was moved to third on an Engelb Vielma double. The bases were loaded after Chad Christensen was hit with a pitch, and a second HBP to Jason Kanzler scored the first run of the game. An Alex Swim groundout would score Vielma for run number two. The scored stayed the same until the eighth inning, when the Kernels added two insurance runs on a Bryan Haar home run after Christensen hit his fourth triple of the year in front of him. Haar’s blast was his third in two days. What came next was the professional debut of the Twins 2014 second round pick, hard-throwing closer Nick Burdi out of Louisville, who was in the College World Series. It didn’t go well, as he himself would explain. Burdi faced just four hitters in the top of the ninth, and walked all of them, with the first of his four earned runs given up scoring on a wild pitch. Burdi explained, “[i was] a little rusty but I still walked four guys. That’s not an excuse but I’ve got to come back next time and be sharper.” He would add “It happens. It’s baseball. Have to move on” and “I’ve got to be better.” Jake Mauer also talked about his new pitche, explaining “We don’t know a lot about him. He was the closer at Louisville. He was the closer at a big time program. He’ll get another chance. No doubt about it.” Burdi was replaced by Jared Wilson, who gave up a run-scoring single to the first batter he faced, then walked in another run to make the score 4-3. The final blow came when Christian Carmichael hit a grand slam to plate the final four for the LumberKings. Wilson line in one inning included four hits, one walke, three earned runs, and was charged with the Blown Save and Loss. E-TWINS E-NOTES Bristol 0, Elizabethton 0 (suspended in the bottom of the first inning) Box Score The E-Twins didn’t get to play much baseball on Sunday, as rain would stop play with only one out in the bottom of the first inning. On the mound for Elizabethton was Derrick Penilla, who gave up a double to start the game, but escaped the first with no damage and picked up a strikeout. The game will be finished before the regularly scheduled tilt tomorrow. GCL TWINS TAKES Just like every Sunday during the Gulf Coast League season, there were no games scheduled. The GCL Twins return to action tomorrow at 11:00 AM CST against the GCL Rays at home in Fort Myers. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – TRIPLE PLAY!!! Logan Darnell, Rochester Red Wings (9IP, CG, 9 H’s, BB, 1 ER, 3 K’s); Jose Berrios, Fort Myers Miracle (7 IP, 5 H’s, BB, 2 ER’s, 7 K’s); Ethan Mildren, Cedar Rapids Kernels (7 IP, 4 H’s, BB, 0 R’s, 6 K’s) Hitter – Danny Ortiz, Rochester Red Wings (1-3, BB, 2 R’s, HR, 2 RBI) MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Norfolk @ Rochester – TBD 6:05PM CST Binghamton @ New Britain – TBD 6:05 CST Palm Beach @ Fort Myers – D.J. Baxendale (1-1, 5.23 ERA) 6:05PM CST Clinton @ Cedar Rapids – Kohl Stewart (1-4, 2.53 ERA) 12:05PM CST Bristol @ Elizabethton (regularly scheduled game) – Michael Cederoth 6:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD 11:00AM CST

Good call!

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The Twins were lifeless for the entire game against Rangers starter Nick Tepesch, before Twins Daily’s #8 prospect Jorge Polanco made a big splash in the ninth inning with a two-RBI triple off closer Joakim Soria to make the score 5-4. Unfortunately, a Brian Dozier strikeout and Kurt Suzuki groundout would prevent him from becoming the Miracle ninth-inning hero. In the minors it was a very eventful night, including two walk-off games and near history among the affiliates. I apologize in advance for the let-down after that remark, however… TRANSACTIONS The Twins placed Danny Santana on the 15-day disabled list after he tweaked his knee in yesterday’s game. They recalled SP Yohan Pino to take his place, who hopefully didn’t fly back to New York only to get right back on a plane to Texas! RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 5 Box score The Red Wings found themselves in a 4-0 hole going into the seventh inning, after Lehigh Valley starter, and former Twin, Jason Marquis blanked them for six innings. Rochester’s lineup managed only three hits and a walk against him, but would come alive when he left the game after giving up a leadoff single to Chris Colabello to start the seventh inning. Marquis was replaced by Jeremy Horst, who quickly gave up an inherited run on a Chris Herrmann triple. Herrmann would score the second run of the game for the Red Wings on a Brad Nelson groundout to put two on the board in the seventh. In the eighth, Rochester completed the comeback with a furious two-out rally. Eric Farris doubled with one out to put the first runner of the inning on base, which was followed by a “productive” groundout that moved him to third. Deibinson Romero then drew a walk to put runners on the corners, and Colabello brought Fryer home with another single. After a pitching change, Herrman drew a walk to load the bases before a Brad Nelson double brought home all the ducks on the pond, and gave Rochester the 6-5 lead. Aaron Thompson and Ryan Pressley would close out the final two innings with two perfect frames to secure the win. The save was Pressley’s fourth of the season. Starter Sean Gilmartin pitched six innings, but allowed seven hits, two walks, and four earned runs with only one strikeout. Deolis Guerra pitched the seventh inning, but gave up a run after a wild-pitch strikeout put a runner on first, which was followed by an RBI double. The Rochester offense got multiple hits from Colabello (2-4, R, RBI) and Herrmann (2-3, BB, 2R, RBI), and Nelson provided the clutch hit and collected four RBI on the game. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain had a scheduled seven-inning double-header with New Hampshire to make up a postponed game from April 15th. Game 1 - New Britain 2, New Hampshire 3 Box Score In game one, New Britain took a 2-0 lead in the fourth, but were unable to muster any more offense. As a team they were 1-10 with runners in scoring position, and scattered six hits and four walks. In the second game of his rehab assignment, Eduardo Nunez reached base all four times he came up, going 2-2 with two walks. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-4 with two doubles and a run scored, and Kennys Vargas went 1-3 with a walk. On the mound Tyler Duffey gave a quality start effort, pitching 6.1 innings and allowing only three hits, two walks, and two runs (one earned). He struck out three. Ryan O’Rourke was asked to face only one batter in the seventh, and picked up a strikeout. Cole Johnson recorded the final out of the inning, but would get only one more out in the game before surrendering a walk-off double in the (extra) eighth inning. Game 2 - New Britain 0, New Hampshire 8 Box score Former Minnesota Gopher Mike Kvasnicka was a hero in this game, but not for the reason you would hope as history was nearly made by New Hampshire starter Casey Lawrence. His bid for a perfect game was lost with two outs in the final inning of the shortened game, after Kvasnicka pinch hit for Eduardo Nunez and snuck a ground ball through the left side of the infield for a single. Lawrence struck out eight Rock Cats in the nearly perfect effort. Mark Hamburger made his first start of the season for New Britain, and was solid in four innings. He allowed just one hit, two walks and one run with three strikeouts. Daniel Turpen didn’t have a good night in relief, as he gave up six earned runs on seven hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Jim fuller recorded the final out for the Rock Cats, but not before giving up a run of his own. MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton -, Fort Myers – The Fort Myers Miracle game against the Bradenton Marauders was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up on …. as part of a double-header. KERNELS NUGGETS Clinton 5, Cedar Rapids 6 Box score Cedar Rapids put enough runs on the board in the third (1), fourth (2), and fifth (3) innings to stave off a late comeback from the Lumberjacks. For some great quotes on Lewis Thorpe and more, check out Seth’s full game report as he reports live from Cedar Rapids. Chad Christensen (2-4, 2R’s, 2B, RBI) and Jason Kanzler (2-4, R, 3B, RBI) collected multiple hits for the Kernels, and every hitter in the lineup collected a hit except for cleanup man Bryan Haar. Thorpe pitched 5.1 innings to pick up his first win of the season. Alex Muren relieved him in the sixth and allowed two earned runs over two innings. Todd Van Steensel picked up his seventh save on the year with a five out effort, three of them via strikeout. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 3, Burlington 4 Box Score Burlington struck for two runs and an early lead in the bottom of the first against starter Chih-Wei Hu, but he would settle down and retire the final seventeen batters he faced to finish six strong innings. His overall line for the night included just three hits, zero walks and the two earned runs, with three strikeouts. Randy LeBlanc pitched two perfect innings before Cameron Booser was charged with a hard-luck blown save after allowing three hits and two runs (1 earned) after a play at the plate that resulted in an error from catcher Brett Doe that put the winning run in scoring position. Elizabethton’s lineup tied the game at two in the seventh inning after Nick Gordon led off the inning with his second triple of the year in as many days, and scored on a strikeout misthrow to first base that put Austin Diemer on second. Diemer would score the second run on a wild pitch. The E-Twins would take a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth after a run-scoring-balk with runners on second and third after a Diemer single and Tyler Mautner double, but the bottom half of the inning would result in the second walk-off loss of the night for Twins affiliates. Gordon went 2-4 and has collected multiple hits in three straight games, but the rest of the E-Twins lineup only managed two hits and three walks on the night. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Red Sox 3 Box Score There wasn’t much offense in this game from either side, as collectively there were only eleven hits. But five walks from Twins pitchers would provide the difference Boston’s affiliate needed in the late innings, where they put one run on the board in each of the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to secure the win. Twins hitters had only five singles on the night, with Roberto Gonzalez and Ariel Montesino collecting the two RBI’s. Starter Zach Tillery surrendered only two walks in three innings with four strikeouts. He was relieved by Brandon Easton who pitched four innings, allowing three hits, two walks, and one run, while notching seven strikeouts. Reyson Zoquiel was charged with a blown save and the loss after surrendering two runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk between the eighth and ninth innings. Trevor Hildenberger finished the ninth with no further damage. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Chih-Wei Hu, Elizabethton Twins (6 IP, 3 H’s, 2 ER’s, 0 BB, 3 K’s) Hitter – Brad Nelson, Rochester Red Wings (1-3, 2B, 4 RBI) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Norfolk @ Rochester – Alex Meyer (4-4, 3.79 ERA) 6:05PM CST New Britain @ New Hampshire – Virgil Vasquez (4-3, 3.71 ERA) 6:05 CST Palm Beach @ Fort Myers – TBD 5:05PM CST Clinton @ Cedar Rapids – Ryan Eades (4-7, 6.08 ERA) 6:35 CST Bristol @ Elizabethton – TBD 5:00PM CST GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD 9:00AM CST

It doesn't? Why? Because since that season he has struggled? That's not relevant at all to the argument I'm making. They put him in Fort Myers after that draft because of his perceived readiness, and he absolutely dominated in his short time there before the seasons end. This was for a starter, which I would have more concerns about than a reliever.

This year sure. But I consider Burdi to be a different type of prospect, and should be treated as such. He's a pure reliever, and has big-league stuff right now. (for reference about starting at a certain level) Alex Wimmers was a starter, and also thought to be the most MLB ready in that draft, and began his career in A+. Not much of an issue if they move him quick, but doesn't change the fact it still disappoints me some!

I'm a bit disappointed Burdi was sent to CR, but as you say, I don't expect he'll be there long if he shows dominance right out of the gate. I'd hope they would take the same approach at Fort Myers with him as well.

Good to see Nate Roberts back! He's always one of my favorite guys to follow when he's playing. Wish there was something they could pin down for the reasons he's always been hurt. He's definitely not afraid of getting plunked by pitches, which some might cite, but I'm pretty sure all his injuries have been various leg-ailments. I think he could have been on the verge of helping the Twins by now if he had been reasonably healthy thus far (never thought he needed to repeat the MWL, even with injuries). Love his game.

Well, I think the reason player's don't, is that most of the guys who these shifts are done for are guys like Dunn, who's offensive game is built around their power. If they take this approach, you literally have eliminated their most dangerous tool from the game, so I would say this plays to your advantage as well.

Definitely. Though Berrios might not be first in the promotion pecking order. But the Twins always talk about consistency with pitchers when determining promotions, so if Berrios hasn't been consistent (-ly awesome), I don't know how they define it!

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php/3121-Twins-Minor-League-Report-(6-17)-Familiar-Faces-Shine

Minnesota Twins starter Phil Hughes continued his renaissance of 2014, tossing a complete game effort in Fenway Park – a stadium in which he had owned a career ERA of 6.56 in – on Tuesday night. Unfortunately for him, the offense wasn’t to provide enough punch to avoid a tally in the loss column against Jon Lester. In the minors, one of the affiliates participated in their league’s All-Star Game, while a few familiar names in these reports continued their headlining play. RED WINGS REPORT Pawtucket 2, Rochester 1 (suspendend) Box score The Red Wings game against Boston’s AAA affiliate was suspended due to rain after the first out of the fourth inning. The game will be completed on Wednesday before the scheduled game, which will be shortened to a seven inning contest. Sean Gilmartin was called up to Rochester to make the start, and should stay in AAA after the promotion of Yohan Pino to the Twins. In the 3.1 innings finished on the night, he allowed six hits and two runs (both unearned), with two strikeouts. On offense, the Red Wings only made it through the lineup once (.5), with Eric Farris, Deibinson Romero (double), Chris Colabello, and Dan Rohlfing collecting their four hits. James Beresford drew a walk and scored the lone run on Colabello’s first inning single. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 7, Harrisburg 2 Box score Up 3-2 heading into the seventh inning, the Rock Cats were looking for some insurance runs, and they got them courtesy of 1B Kennys Vargas. After a Tony Thomas single, Eddie Rosario walk, and Nate Hanson single, Vargas stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. On an 0-2 count, Harrisburg pitcher Neil Holland served up a pitch that Vargas deposited deep into right field for a Grand Slam, and 7-2 lead they would not relinquish. Hanson was 4-4 on the night with two doubles, a walk, and two runs scored, and Vargas and Rosario each collected multiple hits. Tyler Duffey made the start, and improved to 2-2 in eight starts with New Britain after finishing five innings, allowing five hits, two walks, and two earned runs while striking out four. Daniel Turpen pitched two perfect innings of relief (2 K’s), while Jim Fuller (2 hits allowed), and Ryan O’Rourke (2 K’s) closed out the victory with scoreless frames themselves. MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton 2, Fort Myers 4 Box score The third batter of the game for Bradenton singled to right field, but this was all the offense the Marauders were able to mount against Miracle stud Jose Berrios. In seven innings, Berrios allowed only this one hit, two walks, and struck out nine. Berrios recorded multiple strikeouts in the first, second, fifth, and sixth innings, and of his nine K’s, six were of the swinging variety. This start also marked the seventh straight where Berrios finished at least six innings, struck out seven or more, and allowed just two or fewer earned runs. The victory pushed his record to 7-2 on the season, and lowered his ERA to an otherworldly 2.09. His name appears near the top of every meaningful statistical category in the Florida State League, and it is only a matter of time before he should make his way to the AA Eastern League. The Miracle offense struck first in the fourth inning, putting up a three-spot after Jorge Polanco led off the inning with his fifth home run of the year, and Stephen Wickens (single), Lance Ray (double, RBI), and Dalton Hicks (single, RBI) collected hits. Fort Myers would add a run in the seventh when Niko Goodrum singled and collected his twelfth steal of the season, then scored on a throwing error from Marauder first-baseman Jose Osuna after a Tyler Grimes ground out. Madison Boer came on for the eighth inning to relieve Berrios, but a walk, two singles, and a sac fly would put a crooked number on the board for Bradenton to make the score 3-2 heading into the ninth. Tyler Jones would put the leadoff man on first, but would get the next three out, punctuating his eighth save of the year with a strikeout. KERNELS NUGGETS MWL West 7, MWL East 0 Box score The Cedar Rapids Kernels play in the Western Division, and were represented by 1B Bryan Haar, and pitchers Kohl Stewart (SP) and Yorman Landa (RP) in the winning effort. Haar went 1-2 in the game, singling in his first at-bat to lead off the seventh inning, but neither Stewart nor Landa pitched in the game (lots of players, can’t get to them all!) The Kernels resume play on Thursday when they open the second half of the season on the road against the Kane County Cougars. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher – Jose Berrios, Fort Myers Miracle (7 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 9 K’s) Hitter – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats (2-5, 2 R’s, GS (13), 4 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester – Alex Meyer (4-3, 3.62 ERA), 6:05PM CST New Britain @ Harrisburg – TBD 11:00AM CST Bradenton @ Fort Myers – TBD 6:05PM CST